A system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,022 entitled Moving Target Screen issued to H. I. PARDES, J. R. SCHWARTZ and F. B. SHERBURNE and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention wherein motion picture scenes are projected on a viewing screen to provide trainees with simulated realistic scenes for tactical and marksmanship training.
The system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,022 is particularly directed such as to military applications wherein there is a requirement to keep each weapon unencumbered such as by wire connections and accessories. The environment wherein the system of Patent No. 3,888,022 is utilized permits each of the weapons utilized to generate a low power laser beam which is aimed onto the target.
Another system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,178 issued to Marshall et al. directed to a weapon fire simulator system utilizing film projectors. The system of U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,178 utilizes relatively complicated electronic circuits, as well as a sophisticated optic and lens assembly.
In the systems of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,888,022 and 3,964,178 cost constraints and possible safety complications of using lasers in public facilities are not overriding considerations. Thus because of public safety requirements and legal technicalities it is often not feasible to utilize the systems disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,888,022 and 3,964,178.
The present invention describes a system particularly useful in permanent type of simplified installations such as in fixed target ranges or in amusement park games, where it is possible to hard wire, that is electrically connect the weapon to a scoring display. The electronics of the present invention, as well as the lens assembly are simplified relative to the cited patents thereby reducing the expense of the overall system.